Corrosive behaviour of implant biomaterials in oral environment

Abstract

The major groups of implantable materials in dentistry are metals and alloys, ceramics and polymeric materials. Titanium has developed into a well-accepted metallic biomaterial since many decades, its unique properties like biological, mechanical, physiological and functional phenomenon with living tissue has popularised it with many biomechanical applications including arthroplasty, osteosynthesis, pace-maker cases, oral reconstructive procedures, anchorage of bone conductive hearing aids and jewellery. In clinical situation, some properties of implant biomaterials e.g. elastic modulus, tensile strength and ductility are used to aid in the design and fabrication of the prosthesis. It should be noted, however, that no material including implant can be considered universally biocompatible. Objective of present paper is to provide an overview of various aspects of dental implant materials and its interaction with oral environment with special emphasis on their prognosis and clinical behaviour.

Keywords:

• Oral environment
• Corrosion
• Dental Implant
• Titanium
• Biocompatibility